Canadian Press is declaring NDP candidate Rachel Blaney as the winner in North Island-Powell River.
With 115 of 251 polls reporting, Blaney leads with 8,527 votes to second place holder Conservative Shelley Downey鈥檚 6,562 votes, according to Elections Canada as of 8:50 p.m.
CP is also declaring a Liberal government but not whether it鈥檚 a majority or not.
Meanwhile, Peter Schwarzhoff, the Liberal candidate for the North Island-Powell, who is sitting in fourth place in the vote currently, said he is feeling 鈥渦pbeat and good about the campaign鈥� and that he had no assumptions for the election results.
鈥淚鈥檓 satisfied with things,鈥� Schwarzhoff said. 鈥淚 ran a positive campaign and looking at the numbers (nationally) with the Liberals, NDP and the Greens, it clearly shows we鈥檝e got a progressive agenda with supportive allies.鈥�
Schwarzhoff, who made his second run for federal office for the Liberals, noted while climate change was a hot topic on the campaign trail, affordability was also on the minds of many voters within the riding.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an important mandate and (voters) want bolder actions, but they may not be sure they know what鈥檚 required. (A Liberal government) is working for answers. Things that got me into polices such as environmental protection and climate change are on the agenda,鈥� Schwarzhoff said.
Brian Rundle of the People鈥檚 Party of Canada said he was surprised to see party leader Maxime Bernier lost his own seat - the only one the PPC had - in the Beach, Que. riding, to Conservative Richard Lehoux.
鈥淚t鈥榮 kind of sad - I don鈥檛 know what to say. It鈥檚 tragic for Max. I think the whole thing is kind of unexpected,鈥� Rundle said.
He still believes strongly in the future of the People鈥檚 Party of Canada, though.
鈥淲e do have, in many ways, the only real choice to a government that has a global agenda. We believe we offer something very different and I think there is a place in [Canada] for us to have a say, and from my experience, there are a lot of people who agree with our vision.
鈥淲e won鈥檛 be going away. The People鈥檚 Party of Canada is not going away,鈥� he said.
More to come..
